Media release

25 September 2004

Ministry of Health affected by Buoyant Economy

The Ministry of Health is finding recruitment more challenging as a result of sustained economic growth and low unemployment levels.

Director-General of Health Dr Karen Poutasi says to ensure that the health and disability system works for all New Zealanders its vital the Ministry is able to attract talented people with the skills required. "The Ministry is recognised as a good employer, but recruitment has become a little tighter in the current environment."

Dr Poutasi says while the Ministry is well known for its core role principally as the Government's primary advisor on health policy and disability support services, many are surprised at the large range of additional functions from specialist business units which represent 43 percent or 455 of the Ministry's staff and present particular recruitment challenges.

"These specialist units, such as the National Radiation Laboratory (NRL) employ a range of specialists. In the case of NRL, we need scientists with expertise in radiation and nuclear science and technology. They play a key role in ensuring cancer radiation treatment and diagnostic equipment are working correctly and accurately. It's an often unsung role, but a vital one for the smooth functioning of a large part of our health services."

Recruitment to these positions often requires looking for skilled staff nationally and internationally. More recently recruitment of staff with radiochemistry expertise needed for our international nuclear test ban monitoring commitments have been completely reliant on overseas applicants. Overall around 2/3rds of the NRL's recent technical appointments have been from overseas.

Public Health Intelligence is another group where staff are specialists in their own areas of health and epidemiological research.

"We are very fortunate in having staff of the calibre that allows us to joint venture with universities to produce robust scientific evidence of the burden of disease on which to base interventions which are likely to have the greatest impact on improving New Zealand's health status."

Similarly in Medsafe, which provides medicine regulation and safety services for all of New Zealand, we have managed to provide a very high level of expertise from a very small staff, by international standards. Appointment's to Medsafe's Advisory committees, which provide the intellectual powerhouse of the unit, are often complicated by the relatively small number of specialists available, and the large workloads many already carry.

Dr Poutasi says responsibility for recruitment in this area will soon be managed independently of the Ministry, when Medsafe joins its Australian counterpart agency next year. The change will enable a greater critical mass of expertise in licensing increasingly sophisticated medicines, medical devices and other products.

"We have five other business units, the Clinical Training Agency, the sector payment agency HealthPAC, the New Zealand Health Information Service, Information Technology provider ITS and the National Screening Unit, all of which have their own specialist needs for staff.

"Even in the core Ministry, where we employ 624 staff, we're finding recruitment more challenging. We're currently running at around 10 - 15 percent of staff on short term contracts and we're finding that we're getting fewer applications for job advertisements. One recent vacancy attracted only six applicants. Fortunately the quality of the applicants was high and an appointment is pending.

The increasing need for skilled staff is demonstrated by recent key initiatives. Dr Poutasi says these projects include implementing the new primary health organisations, addressing problem gambling, leading the vaccination of 1.1 million New Zealanders against meningococcal disease and enlarging the national screening programmes.
The Ministry is always very mindful of the need to ensure its centralised workforce remains efficient and cost effective. Dr Poutasi says it's a source of pride that the Ministry has never overspent its departmental budget during the past ten years and Ministry funding as a percentage of total Vote Health funds administered continues to fall. Last year the Ministry's budget was 1.86 percent of Vote:Health compared to 1.96 percent for 2002/03 and it should drop further in the current financial year.

Lastly, Dr Poutasi recognises that the Ministry is probably luckier than some sectors when it comes to attracting staff. "We find Health is an area where the challenge, complexity, reward and diversity mean we have a lot to offer and once people work in health and disability services its rare that they leave the sector."

Background

The Ministry of Health:

• Provides policy advice on improving health outcomes, reducing inequalities, and increasing participation.
• Acts as the Minister's agent.
• Monitors the performance of District Health Boards and other health sector Crown entities.
• Implements, administers and enforces relevant legislation and regulations.
• Provides health information and processes payments.
• Facilitates collaboration and co-ordination within and across sectors.
• Provides nationwide planning and maintenance of service frameworks.
• Plans and funds public health, disability support services and other service areas that are retained centrally.

Clinical Training Agency

The CTA is responsible for purchasing post-entry clinical training. Post-entry clinical training is training that is vocational, clinical, post-entry, formal, a minimum of six months and nationally recognised. This is one form of workforce development, and is an essential component of developing an expert health and disability workforce.

The CTA’s involvement in workforce analysis and development incorporates many areas, including assessment of the current capability of the workforce, working with other directorates within the Ministry of Health to identify gaps, and facilitating training development – whether funded by the CTA or through other agencies or employers. Partnership and collaboration are key features of CTA workforce projects, with strong networks necessary to ensure information is accurate and timely.


HealthPAC (www.hbl.co.nz)

The principal activities of HealthPAC are:

• Processing claims from primary health care providers (pharmacists, GPs, midwives, dentists, etc.) for subsidies that the Ministry of Health has agreed to provide to these service providers;
• Undertaking audit and compliance activities in relation to health benefits and subsidy payments;
• Providing information derived from the claims processing to various parts of the health sector; and
• Undertaking a number of patient eligibility functions in particular administering and issuing High Use Health Cards (HUHC) and running query lines for National Health Index (NHI) and Community Service Card (CSC) numbers.

Information Technology Shared Services

The role of ITS is to support independent information technology and knowledge management services to the Ministry's business units (eg, NRL and NSU), support the business of HealthPAC and NZHIS, improve transparency and accountability, improve access to information, and to provide information technology consulting services to the Ministry.


National Radiation Laboratory (www.nrl.moh.govt.nz)

The principle objectives of the National Radiation Laboratory are:

• To provide advice to the government and its Ministries, local bodies, professional groups, health care professionals and the general public on matters relating to radiation safety;
• To administer all current radiation protection legislation;
• To control by license the custody, use, manufacture, importation, transportation, distribution, exportation and disposal of radioactive substances, irradiation apparatus, and other sources of ionising radiation;
• To monitor developments relating to radiation safety, both in New Zealand and overseas, and to keep the government informed as to the possible implications;
• To represent New Zealand on all relevant international bodies relating to radiation safety;
• To maintain and develop a national laboratory for the measurement of levels of radioactive in the environment, and to assess the significance of these levels for the people of New Zealand and other overseas agencies;
• To provide a personal dosimetry and instrument calibration service for those who work with ionising radiation;
• To prepare codes and regulations for the safe use of ionising radiation;
• To provide a radioactivity measurement and certification service;
• To develop expertise in matters relating to non-ionising radiation and to offer relevant advice and services;
• To develop a research capability that supports all other objectives;
• To develop an international commercial presence.

National Screening Unit (www.nsu.govt.nz)

The National Screening Unit manages and co-ordinates the two national screening programmes - the National Cervical Screening Programme and BreastScreen Aotearoa. More than one million women are enrolled in the NCSP, while BreastScreen Aotearoa is the national breastscreening programme for women aged 45 to 69.


New Zealand Health Information Service (www.nzhis.govt.nz)

The New Zealand Health Information Service (NZHIS) is responsible for the collection and dissemination of health-related information.
The NZHIS has as its foundation the goal of making accurate information readily available and accessible in a timely manner throughout the health sector. The vision of NZHIS is to be recognised as the world leader in the provision of health information services, and to support the health sector's ongoing effort to improve the health status of New Zealanders. Effective and timely use of information is crucial to achieving this vision.


Medsafe (www.medsafe.govt.nz)

The New Zealand Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Authority is a business unit of the Ministry of Health, and is the authority responsible for the regulation of therapeutic products in New Zealand. Medsafe regulates by applying a framework that weighs up risks and benefits of medicines and medical devices, ensures there are therapeutic benefits and manages the potential risks associated with use of these products.


Public Health Intelligence (www.moh.govt.nz/phi)

PHI is responsible for monitoring the health of the New Zealand population by analysing health outcomes, risks and determinants. It examines inequalities in health across regional boundaries and between various population groups. PHI is made up of epidemiologists, statisticians, geographers and social scientists providing the evidence for population health policy and decision-making.